NEWS

Exclusive: Brokencyde tell us their side of Monday night’s violent incident

Two nights ago, members of BROKENCYDE were involved in a violent altercation with Punchline drummer Cory Muro following Brokencyde’s show at the Smiling Moose in Muro’s hometown of Pittsburgh. Last night, we got Muro’s side of the story and today, Brokencyde vocalist MICHAEL “MIKL” SHEA offers up his perspective. Once you’ve got both sides, tell us who you think is in the right.

How did this begin?
We were on our bus outside the venue before [Muro and his friend Johnny Grushecky] started talking badly to our merch girl and began to slander us as individuals. People were talking trash all day long—even the manager of the Smiling Moose knew they were bashing us.

Did you know Muro or that he's in Punchline?
We didn't know who they were. They were just a group of guys standing outside a bar yelling unneeded remarks towards our group.

So what happened?
Our merch girl was locking up the bus and one of the Punchline guys pointed at her and said, “Go fuck yourself. You're a piece of shit.” She told us people were disrespecting her for no reason. Then all of a sudden, they started yelling at all the members of Brokencyde saying, “Fuck you,” “Fuck your music” and “You're a faggot-ass pedophile.” [Grushecky] came up to two members of Brokencyde and said, “Fuck you” and then a punch was thrown. At that point, one of our guys hit Grushecky. When he fell down, Muro jumped in and started to choke out one of us—which is when he got punched in the eye. After Muro stood up, he just continued to bash us. Grushecky—the initiator of the fight—was in a corner being held back and then he threw a punch and hit [vocalist David “Se7en” Gallegos] in the face. This blonde girl with them (presumably Grushecky’s sister) pushed him by the face while screaming. We went back to our bus and Grushecky ran toward the bus to fight some more, but he was pushed back. No one was “jumped” at all. Muro stood there and said, “I've been playing music way longer than any of you!”, “You're not real musician!” and “Quit music. Remember Punchline!” He just kept yelling. We've dealt with this since we've started, so we're used to it. But when they started to disrespect a girl and us as people, it changed everything.

How did it end?
We went back on the bus and left. It was only a minute or so. One of our guys had a scratch on his face, our singer had his piercing ripped [out] and his arms have lumps from trying to break it up. We didn't take pictures and post them online—we just dealt with it and let it go.

Were police involved?
We heard the cops came, but nobody ever talked to us.

Obviously this isn't the first time you guys have endured people taking verbal jabs at you, but has it gotten physical in the past?
We are so used to people talking bad about us, but we don't care. People have opinions and we respect them. We never let it get physical—we don't like violence. We're really nice guys and love everyone and respect all artists. What made it escalate was them disrespecting our merch girl and us as people.

Seems like people instinctively side against you when they hear news like this. Why do you think that's the case?
Just because of who they think we are and the music we make. If the tables were turned, people would be praising these guys for beating us up. It's a double standard for us because of our name and the music we make. It's really unfair. Our Facebook and Twitter have been full of nothing but hate and threats toward us [since the incident], and we haven’t once said anything bad back to them or [Punchline]. Were moving forward while Muro is sadly using this as a way for his band to benefit from the hate we already have.

What are your thoughts on people starting this type of incident over music?
We feel bad about the whole situation and wish it never happened. No one was jumped; the rest of it was a shoving match to break it up. We just stood up for ourselves and a girl they were bashing. It's sad that Muro posted a picture from the incident and created a website promoting his band and their new album less than an hour after the altercation. It's really immature and sad. Everyone has their taste in music, and new genres have been created throughout the history of music. We’re just trying to bring something new and just have fun. If you don't agree with it, that’s fine. We respect that. We don't do this for money or fame. We do this every single day for our fans. Music is music, and we respect every artist out there no matter what they do. alt